Hotel On The Corner Of Bitter And Sweet Analysis

The Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, by Jamie Ford, portrays an array of conflicts between Henry and his father, Marty, and Keiko throughout the novel. Henry's relationships that he encounters throughout his life, changes Henry as a person in many ways. Henry battles adversity, other characters, and himself, but it all leads him to become shaped into a new character.

Brave gentile uncle Ludvik comes to pick up the two children into his house. On that afternoon, Hana puts all her treasured things into a large brown suitcase--the one lying in the Tokyo Holocaust Center. But even the life under the protection of uncle Ludvik doesn’t last too long. One year later, in May 1942, Hana and George are ordered to show at a deportation center. At there, on May 16, 1942, with a few candies and a stub of a candle, Hana Brady celebrates her eleventh birthday. Four days later, they are transferred to the prison town Theresienstadt. In this town, Hana and Gorge is Separated into different children’s home. Life in Theresienstadt is very hard. There is never enough room and food, there is always too many people, bugs, rats, and Nazis. But even in such a tragedy condition, there is still something warm. For instances, Hana’s best friend, Ella, always stands for her and cheers her up. The art teacher, Friedl Dicker-Brandeis, tells the children thinking of freedom and putting what they imagined down. And Hana, always saves her food to George on a meeting once a week. There once is a huge surprise that Hana and George

I joined the union. The white Musicians formed a union to try and get more work, but the black players formed their own, and now we’re getting more gigs than we can handle.” (28)

Jamie Ford writes “Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and sweet” and the publisher of the book is Ballantine Books. They published the book in English on 1st February 2009. “Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet” story sets during one of the most conflicted and volatile times in American history. The time period of the story is after the Pearl Harbor boomed and the internment of American-Japanese families during the World War II.

As Henry struggled to find himself he connected more with Sheldon who played Jazz music in the streets. This gave the reader a sense of comfort that after losing Keiko and his father he was able to connect with someone who respected him and supported who Henry was. Mrs. Beatty who was the cafeteria cook asked Henry to help her in the internment camps to serve the people living there. This scenario brought hope to the reader that Mrs. Beatty understood and empathized with what Henry was feeling when Keiko was forced to leave. Each time Henry connected with Keiko at the internment camp it elicited happiness that Henry did not allow the difference in him and Keiko to impact his feelings. It was disappointing to read Keiko never returned from the internment camp. Henry’s decision to move on with Ethyl was shocking and somewhat disappointing. After being married and sharing a son, Ethyl passed away which was another gloomy experience in the book. It was a surprise when Henry chose to look for Keiko’s items that she left behind. Henry’s reflection on his relationship with his son, Marty and the desire to improve it was heartwarming as was the relationship Henry developed with Samantha, Marty’s fiancé. As the story came to an end and Henry was face to face again with Keiko it brought delight to the reader that after all these years and all the heart wrenching experience they were able to reconnect like they had never been apart.

Friendship is another major theme in the novel, John Marsden uses this theme to overlap with other issues like survival and war. The characters of the novel all depend on those around them for help and support in everything they do. Friendship provides people with strength, hope and love, and all these things help a person overcome tragedies, death, and moments when it seems life isn’t worth living. An example from the novel would be when Corrie’s house is blown up, she is devastated and it is only with the support of the others that she can continue. A real life issue about friendship/love and survival would be the incident with the Beaconsfield miners. The miners were sure they would die, but with the thought in there heads of family and friends outside waiting for there arrival, they continued on battling for there lives, relying only on the support of loved ones. When Lee was shot in the leg by soldiers, Robyn carried Lee over her shoulder until it was safe enough to treat the wound. Robyn overcame her fear of blood and cuts, to save Lee from infection and disease. John Marsden uses techniques like first person

To neglect society's long-established views of how one should portray one another we should d rather embrace who we are. Focusing on Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, which has the main protagonist who is named Henry, Henry is an American ordered to live in a Chinese community and to Chinese standards. His father is a Chinese national and has very strong believes against the Japanese, and even though his father has such strong feelings toward the Japanese Henry ignores him. This was shown when Henry fell in love with a Japanese girl, Keiko. Throughout the novel Henry would face challenging decisions which would shape his relationships with his family creating his identity. The theme that ones identity is formed through individual reflection,

Good friendships make life easier. Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, is about two men, George and Lennie, who go on various journeys in order to get a job. Although George would consider Lennie to be his closest friend, he ultimately ends up shooting and killing Lennie. George did this, not out of hatred, but rather out of protection. A good friend will always want what is best for one another. Steinbeck uses his protagonists’ friendship in order to show that true friendship can help make any of life’s hardships less difficult.

Jamie Ford, the author of Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, wrote a story about a Chinese boy named Henry and how he fell in love with a Japanese-American girl named Keiko Okabe. Their adorable and heart wrenching love story took place at Seattle, Washington during World War II when tensions rose between Americans, Chinese, and Japanese. In the novel, Henry’s father was a traditional Chinese man who was extremely loyal to his country. Due to his strong devotion to his homeland and resentment toward Japanese people, he disapproved of his son’s friendship with Keiko. As Henry’s affection and admiration grew for Keiko, his relationship with his father suffered. Misunderstandings and built up frustrations emerged from their lack of communication. Henry struggled with communication, the key to forming a strong relationship and a UULO that is significant throughout this novel. Because of this, he had a difficult time maintaining many of his relationships, including the one with his father, Keiko and his son, Marty.

Stephen Crane’s short story, The Blue Hotel, is a very diverse and interesting story with many themes. One of the themes is consequences for your actions. In the story a man they called the Swede went to a bar and tried to force a Gambler to drink with him. He kept pushing and wouldn’t leave the man alone resulting the Swede being killed. Another theme in this short story is honesty. During the Story the Swede claimed while playing cards that another character, Johnny, was cheating. While Johnie denied it another guy at the table, known as the Easterner, also knew he was cheating, but he didn’t speak up resulting in Johnny and the Swede fighting. Consequently causing the Swede to go to the bar where he was killed. The Easterner felt guilty for the death of the Swede because if he only would’ve been honest about Johnny cheating the Swede would have never went to the bar where he was killed.

Being held by your word because you make a promise, or commitment is frustrating and tough. You don’t always want to do what you promised because it could be hard, or get you into trouble. Throughout the book Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, Henry and Keiko’s relationship comes at a cost. They make commitments that comes with sacrifices which makes them hard to keep. Through Henry and Keiko’s relationship Ford shows that commitment is difficult.

“True love is like ghosts, which everyone talks about and few have seen”. This is a quote said by Francois de La Rochefoucauld, which explains the rarity of true love. In Jamie Ford’s novel, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, the record of Oscar Holden symbolizes the relationship between Henry and Keiko, which is sensed as true love. Throughout the book, Henry and Keiko experience many ups and downs in their relationships which can be reflected by the treatment and condition of the record. Just as the record is rare to find, the story expresses the rarity and feelings one experiences when meeting their true love.

Once the family has been evacuated and are on a train to an internment camp, the daughter takes over as narrator and represents a different impression of the Japanese Americans. The

What you think is best, isn't necessarily what others think is best. The definition of a perfect solution can be drastically different depending on the person. As I read Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet I saw the concepts of decisions, friendship, and loyalty develop throughout the book. I saw this in Henry’s relationships with Keiko, his father, and Ethel. In the beginning, when Henry first met Keiko, he didn’t know that she was Japanese and when he found out, he was perplexed. This was because she was friendly and didn’t match any of the descriptions his father had told him. Henry decided to befriend Keiko. He soon became best friends with her and decided not to tell his father. Henry’s father would surely destroy their friendship

Soon, Mikage meets Yuichi Tanabe, a boy who used to know her grandmother fairly well prior to her death. Now that Mikage was living alone in her apartment, Yuichi suggests that she moves in with his mother Eriko and him. Although Yuichi and Mikage do not know each other personally, they shared a similar love for her grandmother that ultimately brought them together, as Yuichi admits, “‘You seem to think that I live on impulse, like Eriko, but inviting you was something I thought over very carefully. Your grandmother was always so concerned about you, and probably the person who can best understand how you feel in this world is me. I know that once you’re well again, really okay again, you’ll do what you want” (37). As the three get along very well, Mikage finds herself comfortable in the Tanabe household. Having Yuichi and Eriko as a support system helps Mikage overcome and recover from the multiple losses in her young life. Soon, she discovers that her love for cooking and food goes beyond a simple hobby, and uses it to establish a career and lifestyle. Her acceptance about her unavoidable fate drives her out of a state of grief and brings Mikage freedom from her state of misery.